Growing the Ranks of Female Executives in Healthcare

Growing the Ranks of Female Executives in HealthcareSes s ion # 124, Augus t 11, 2021

1

Chief Executive Officer, AGS Health, LLC

Pat rice R. Wolfe

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are solely those of the author/presenter and do not necessarily represent any policy or position of HIMSS.

2#HIMSS21

Welcome

CEO, AGS Health, LLC

Pat rice R. Wolfe

#HIMSS21

Conflict of Interest

Patrice Wolfe has no real or apparent conflicts of interest to report.

3

#HIMSS21 4

Agenda

Women in Leadership

– What’s the Problem?

A Look at the Data

What are the Challenges?

Rewriting the Narrative:Getting more Women into

Executive Leadership

Final Thoughts

#HIMSS21

Learning Objectives

• Recognize that history has shaped women’s journey in leadership• Express an understanding of the statistics with respect to female leaders in

healthcare• Discuss how all colleagues can be part of rewriting the narrative• Engage in a conversation regarding what actions we should take to drive greater

executive diversity

5

#HIMSS21

Great Female Leaders Can Be Found Throughout History

Wu Zetian,the only female

Emperor of China(Tang Dynasty)

Indira Gandhi, the only femalePrime Minister of

India

Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy

Vaughan (Hidden Figures) -served as the brains behind

John Glenn’s launch into orbit

Eleanor Roosevelt, was FLOTUS,

diplomat and activist

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate

Justice of the U.S. Supreme

Court

6

His tory played a la rge role in s haping women’s journey in leaders hip, and it cont inues to do s o.

#HIMSS21

Women in Healthcare Leadership: What’s the Problem?

Healthcaredive.com, “Women Make Up Only 13% of Healthcare CEOs”

We have a “women in healthcare leadership” problem

Women make 80% of all healthcare buying decisions & comprise 65% of the U.S.healthcare workforce

But only 25-30% of healthcare executives – and only 13% of CEOs – are female

7

#HIMSS21

Participant Poll

How much longer does it take to place a

woman at the helm of a company than a man?

8

A B C D

30%50% 20% 10%

#HIMSS21

Answer

It takes a woman 30% longer.

9

#HIMSS21

A look at the dataOf those considered most influential in healthcare, only 21% are women.*

https://www.kornferry.com/insights/articles/the-breakthrough-formula-women-ceos"Board Diversity Statistics". Australian Institute of Company Directors. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

Women represent roughly

6% of Fortune 500 CEOs- an all-time high

In the US, it takes

30% longer to place a woman at the helm of a company than a man

Women hold only 19%of board seats in S&P 500 companies &

22% of board seats in the Fortune 500

*The Advisory Board

10

#HIMSS21

A Look at the DataHaving more women leaders isn’t just about gender equality

– it’s about good business!

https://www.kornferry.com/insights/articles/women-ceo-cfo-stock-performance

Privately-held technology companies led by women are more capital-efficient, achieving

35% higher ROI

Female-led, venture-backed companies achieve

12% higher revenue than startups run by men, according to the Kauffman Foundation

11

#HIMSS21

Participant poll

Female-founded companies in First Round Capital’s portfolio of

investments outperformed male-founded companies by how much?

12

A B C D

32%17% 44% 63%

#HIMSS21

Answer

Female-founded companies

outperformed male founded by 63%

13

#HIMSS21 14

A Look at the Data

Firms with female CEOs and CFOs produce superior stock price performance, compared to the market average

Firms with a high gender diversity on their board of directors are more profitable and larger than firms with low gender diversity, according to a new study from S&P Global Market Intelligence

Nearly 8 in 10 companies have no women at the board chair, CEO or CFO level, according to an analysis by Equileap

15

What are the challenges?

• Women often aren’t given the same level of exposure as men to critical business functions. To be successful in business, one must:

Know the strategy - where the business is headed over the next 3-5 years and why

Know the numbers - the organization’s financial performance

Know the operations - how the company translates strategy into action

• Women often strive to be perfect – having to tick all the boxes on the job description before applying

• Women tend to second-guess our abilities more than men do

Why are we even talking about this?• Women are strong problem solvers

and collaborators

• Female senior leaders create less gender discrimination in recruitment, promotion and retention, according to Peterson Institute.

• Women in top management roles are more creative and innovative, according to Peterson Institute.

The problems:

#HIMSS21

What are the challenges?

From 2019-2020, 307 companies in the Russell 3000 Index appointed new CEOs• 26 were women – and 17

female CEOs stepped down or were ousted during that time

16

Why are women stepping down?Interviews with more than two dozen CEOs, senior female executives, board directors and talent recruiters identified the following leading causes: Early professional trade offs

Work-life constraints

Entrenched attitudes concerning women in power and the traits that make a leader

#HIMSS21

* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-crisis-3-million-women-labor-force/**https://fortune.com/2021/02/13/covid-19-women-workforce-unemployment-gender-gap-recovery/***https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/08/womens-labor-force-participation-rate-hit-33-year-low-in-january-2021.html

What are the challenges?Nearly 3M women have left the U.S. labor force over the past year in an exodus that reflects persistent pay inequality, undervalued work and antiquated notions of caregiving.*• Particularly mothers of

young children, have been furloughed or laid off.**

17

1 2 3Recent projections from McKinsey and Oxford Economics estimate that employment for women may not recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024—two full years after a recovery for men

Women’s labor force participation rate hit a 33-year low in January, according to new analysis***

#HIMSS21https://www.kornferry.com/insights/articles/the-breakthrough-formula-women-ceos

What are the challenges?Advancement in the business world is facilitated by several factors, including: Opportunities to network and grow – Women are often

absent from critical conversations and networking interactions and miss the exposure to higher-level decision making. We are missing a seat at the table

A chance to prove oneself to peers and higher-ups –Women may be more reluctant to speak up, or simply aren’t heard when they do speak up

Supportive partner/family/friends – Women are more apt to worry about work / life balance challenges and therefore be reluctant to take on more work responsibilities

Unless a company intentionally fosters the development of its female employees, it’s nearly impossible for them to ascend to the corporate ladder’s highest rungs

How can we change this narrative?

18

#HIMSS21

Get Women into Executive Leadership

19

Networking: Create programs that give women exposure to executive leadership & problem-solving • Bring high potential females into senior leadership

meetings to present on specific projects• Bring women into board meetings• Create mentoring programs to match high

potential females with senior executives - for a year or longer

Messaging: Attract women at all levels of the organization, including entry levels • Make your company an attractive place for

women candidates by refreshing your messaging and holding special events

Compensation: Tie gender diversity to executive compensation• Bonus and equity payouts should have gender-

related performance gates (e.g., % females at specific leadership level)

• Can’t just be aggregate #s – must break out leadership from individual contributor targets

Ops/Finance Exposure: Create programs to put women in P&L roles• Rotation programs through various business

units/departments

#HIMSS21

Some of what we do at AGS Health

Flexible work arrangements for new working mothers by providing partial / flexible work hours

‘CEO Connect’ series with female leaders focusing on work/ life integration, career development, etc.

Exclusive learning and mentoring tracks for female leaders to support their career journey. Topics include critical thinking and cross-cultural awareness

End-to-end maternity support to ensure leaders don’t fall off the career ladder• Manager support is

critical during this period so the mother can return to work smoothly

• 90% of women in our delivery centers in India return to work after maternity leave

Female-exclusive chat forums and networking communities that enable female colleagues to seek and share information

20

Rewrite the Narrative

Changing the narrative doesn’t mean if I get a seat at the table, you don’t;it means we need a bigger table.

Getting Women into Executive LeadershipWhat do we need to do for ourselves?• Self-promote / network via platforms like LinkedIn

and CSweetener• Build leadership career aspirations• Take on special projects that have leadership

visibility• Believe in one’s potential / competence - break

the myth of the glass ceiling• Solve the right problems • Demonstrate high level of emotional intelligence• Remember, men are allies

#HIMSS21

There are more Fortune 500 CEOs named Michael or James

than there are female Fortune 500 CEOs in total.

23https://www.marketwatch.com/story/there-are-more-s-p-500-ceos-named-michael-or-james-than-women-chief-executives-11607456463

TRUE FALSEOR

Participant poll

#HIMSS21

Answer

24

TRUE

Getting Women into Executive LeadershipMen are part of the solution!The best male leaders:• Encourage women to take risks and ensure they

have a safety net if they struggle• Leverage women’s strengths and look for

opportunities to leverage them: Women tend to be stronger in social awareness

Women tend to be good at building deep relationships

• Acknowledge women’s contributions and accomplishments publicly

• Help them secure a seat at the table so they can engage in meaningful, strategic business conversations

#HIMSS21

Final thoughtsTo those of you here today who aspire to leadership positions:

• Get comfortable with interrupting and challenging discussions• “Echo” your female colleagues when you hear them make a

good point - and ask them to do the same for you• Learn when to listen/act on empathy and when to put it in the

background• Ask for the promotion or raise you deserve. No one else will stand

up for you the way you will!• You don’t need to be a ‘perfect fit’ for a job – apply the 80/20 rule.

If you are a great fit for 80% of the responsibilities, go for it! • Engage in conversations that regarding what actions we should

take to drive greater executive diversity• Pay it forward – send the elevator back down for other women

Read up on the topic

26

#HIMSS21

Lift as you climb

• As women move up the corporate ladder, we need to support and

encourage our fellow female colleagues

27

#HIMSS21 28

Questions

#HIMSS21 29

Thank you!Patrice R. WolfeChief Executive [email protected]